These delicious little one-bit tarts are filled with creamy goat cheese and then topped with perfectly sweet but tart toppings cranberries that make the perfect little appetizer.

What is The Difference in a Tart and a Pie?

You may be wondering what a tart is or how is it different than a pie, or maybe you’re not. Either way, I thought we’d explore the two a little bit before I dive into the recipes for these delicious appetizer tarts.

First, let’s start with “What is a pie?” A pie is a sweet or savory dish with a crust and a filling, like my classic Chocolate Meringue Pie.

Pies sometimes have just a bottom or even just a top, but when it comes to savory pies, my favorites are the ones that have both a bottom and a top crust, like chicken pot pie!

Now, let’s chat about tarts, the little treats we are making today. Tarts also can be sweet or savory, but they only have a shallow bottom crust.

Tart crusts are usually made from pastry dough: traditionally flour, unsalted butter, cold water, and sometimes sugar.

Today’s tart crust is my go-to crust for either my pies or my tarts so I’ll be adding just a touch of sugar to help balance the saltiness of the cheese in the mini tarts.

My guests have often told me they love these little “pies” and to be honest, I don’t mind calling these little appetizers either tarts or pies, because one thing is for sure, they are delicious no matter what you call them!

Can This Goat Cheese and Brie Tarts Be Made Ahead?

• Yes, of course! This is why I love this recipe so much. All you have to do is make the tarts, assemble and keep them in the muffin tin, cover them with plastic wrap or foil, and place them in the refrigerator.
• When you are ready to bake the tarts for your guests, simply take them out about 5 minutes before you are ready to bake them to let them rest. Then pop them into a preheated oven and bake them like you would per the recipe card below.
• What’s even more exciting is that you could totally make these and then freeze them a week before, right in the muffin tin which will make it even easier on you when you want to enjoy time with your family or guests! 

Tips for Making Perfect Tart or Pie Crust

When it comes to homemade pastry crust many people let it intimidate them, but I’m here to tell you it just takes some patience and some good tips and tricks and you’ll be a pro at it in no time!

The two most important things to remember when you are making homemade pastry crusts, in my humble opinion, are to keep everything very cold the whole time you are working with it and don’t overwork the dough.

I even measure out my flour and put it in the freezer for an hour before I’m ready to mix up my pie or tart crusts.

Keeping your ingredients cold will really help keep your pie crust flakey and beautiful from start to finish. Everyone loves those flakey layers we find in perfectly made pie crusts, right?

When it comes to pastry, your worst fear is to have a tough crust on the desserts you’ve worked so hard on. That toughness is a result of handling or working your dough too much.

This can happen if we over-mix the crust in the first part of the process before we chill it, or it can often happen when we are rolling it out to get it ready for our recipe.

So work as fast as you can so that the butter doesn’t melt while you are cutting it into your cold flour and only mix the ingredients together enough for them to just come together in a very shaggy dough.

The dough doesn’t have to be super smooth and perfect when you wrap it up to chill. The flour will soak up the water and the glutens will develop and the magic of the crust will happen in the fridge.

Check out the video on my recipe card if you want to see me make the crust and show you how it should look before you chill it.

When you are ready to fit the pie crust your pie crust or tart pan, don’t stretch the dough to fit, make sure to roll it out large enough that you can gently lay it over the pie plate and softly push it into place.

Stretching the dough to fit can cause some shrinkage later on in the baking process and you don’t want that to happen.

One last tip, always, always, always chill your pastry crust in your pie plate or muffin tins before you bake them no matter if you are prebaking them or baking them with the filling in them, don’t skip that chilling time!

Recipe Variation: Caramelized Onion and Bri Tarts

If you are looking to mix things up a bit or want to serve a couple of different tarts at your next gathering I suggest making half the recipe with the cranberry and goat cheese and the other half with double cream brie cheese and caramelized onions.

This second variation is amazing and you should definitely give it at try. Here’s a look at the ingredients you need for this variation: 1 cup of caramelized onions, and 7 ounces of double cream brie.

Follow the directions in the recipe card to make the tart dough and form your tarts. Next, just cut the brie in small pieces so that it fits well in each little tart.

Be careful not to overfill these with brie because, unlike the goat cheese, the brie is a really melty chees and it will run out of the tarts causing a mess in your muffin pan.

Once you have the small piece of brie in the tarts top put them in the oven for about 18 minutes. Once the tarts are golden brown remove them from the oven and top each tart with some of the caramelized onions.

If you add the onions at first before baking them I’ve learned that they will sometimes get too dark and your tarts will not be as pretty as you want them to be when you serve them.

Yield: 36/48 Tarts

Cranberry and Goat Cheese Tarts

Prep Time: 3 hours

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours 20 minutes

These adorable little sweet and savory tarts are the perfect one-to-two bite appetizers for your next party. A light and crispy pie crust filled with tangy goat cheese and topped with cranberry sauce.

Print

Ingredients

For The Tart Dough

• 2 1/2 cups of pastry flour or All Purpose
• 10-12 Tablespoons of ice cold water

For The Filling

• 8 ounces of goat cheese
• 1 cup of whole berry cranberry sauce

Instructions

1. Add the flour to a large bowl and grate in the frozen butter. Quickly work the butter in gently to the flour until it forms little balls the size of small peas. Don't overwork it and melt the butter.
2. Next, add the sugar and salt and combine. Start adding the water in a couple of tablespoons at a time mixing gently after each addition.
3. Continue until the dough starts to form a rough and shaggy dough. Transfer it to plastic wrap and wrap it tightly before refrigerating it for at least two hours. Overnight is best if you can spare the time.
4. After the dough is chilled roll the dough out to about 1/4 of an inch thick.
5. Use a circle cutter slightly larger than your mini muffin pan holes to cut out the rounds.
6. Use a tart press to gently press the dough into the muffin cups. Repeat until your muffin tin is full. Chill the dough in the pan for 30 minutes.
7. Add a tablespoon of crumbled goat cheese to each tart and top with a teaspoon or two of cranberry sauce.
8. Bake in a 375-degree oven for 18 to 20 minutes or until your tarts are golden brown.
9. This recipe makes a large batch of tarts. Keep the extra tart dough you are not working in the fridge until you are ready to roll it out. I do mine in two batches.
10. Remove the baked tarts from the oven and transfer them to a serving platter. Serve hot or at room temperature.
11. See the blog post above for a delicious Brie and Caramelized Onion Option.

Nutrition Information

Yield

16

Serving Size

2
Amount Per ServingCalories 248Total Fat 11gSaturated Fat 7gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 28mgSodium 213mgCarbohydrates 31gFiber 2gSugar 12gProtein 7g

I am not a nutritionist. If you have strict dietary needs I always recommend using an online nutrition calculator to calculate your totals using your exact brands you're using in this recipe as values may vary per brand.

Did you make this recipe?

Visit My Table of Three

Keri Bucci

I am a southern girl through and through that loves to laugh, cook, read and spend time with family. My passions outside of home schooling my son are ministering to those in need and creating art in the kitchen! Every day is an adventure in our little house and I wouldn’t trade it or the chance to share here with you for anything!